Monthly Archives: August 2013

CVI-UTC researcher talks to students about connected vehicles at the Youth of Virginia Speak Out (YOVASO) About Traffic Safety summer retreat

Youth of Virginia Speak Out (YOVASO) is a statewide, peer-to-peer advocacy program that empowers teenagers to work towards the prevention of their number one killer – motor vehicle crashes.

CVI-UTC research was displayed to students attending the 2013 YOVASO retreat, held at Lynchburg College on July 23 -26, 2013. This program was open to all high school students, including rising freshmen and graduating seniors. Students had the opportunity to learn peer-to-peer techniques for “Saving the World, One Driver at a Time” and participated in educational and team building activities, such as the a license checkpoint, Mobile Park Cinema, school action planning for the 2013-2014 school year, The Arrive Alive Texting Simulator, and much more.

YOVASO started in Roanoke, Virginia in 2001 as a pilot program for the Commonwealth by the Blue Ridge Transportation Safety Board (BRTSB) and the Virginia Highway Safety Office (VaHSO).

The program was developed in response to a 39% increase in the state’s teen fatalities in 2000 (from 113 in 1999 to 157 in 2000) and community meetings which highlighted a need for peer-to-peer advocacy programs in the schools. YOVASO operated primarily in schools in Southwest Virginia until 2007 when the Virginia State Police Association (VSPA) began administering the program and secured a grant from the VaHSO to expand the program statewide. On October 1, 2014 YOVASO came under the direction of the Virginia State Police. Today, the program has active safe driving clubs at high and middle schools in all regions of the Commonwealth. Through the continued sponsorship of VSP and grant funding from VaHSO, membership in YOVASO is free to all high and middle schools. Since statewide expansion of YOVASO in 2007, teen fatalities have steadily declined from 133 in 2007 to 64 in 2013.